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Presentation

published on 11 December 2015, updated on 22 January 2019 at 19:17

Our Multidiscipinary Research Team

We Love Our Job!!

The principal objective of this team is to combine advanced neuroimaging techniques and state-of-the-art cognitive-behavioral assessments in order to understand the etiology and pathophysiology of CNS disorders. MRI allows for the characterization of neural networks involved in cognitive processes and their dysfunction, assessing the structural and functional integrity both of brain regions and the connections between regions of the brain network. Recent studies have also demonstrated the contribution of jointly using MRI and PET techniques, an approach which opens numerous new opportunities to identify structural and functional brain dysfunction and neuropathological tissue damage.

In parallel to advances offered by multimodal imagery, a growing preoccupation of the scientific literature concerns the ecological validity and daily life implications of tests administered in medical settings. A considerable portion of our work has therefore been dedicated to the development and application of ambulatory monitoring techniques for the assessments of symptoms and experiences in natural contexts. These techniques, such as the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), use portable electronic devices to collect information several times per day concerning behaviors, experiences and symptoms as they are actually experienced in a patient’s daily life. Such information complements results from neuropsychological tests, and furthers our understanding for the implications of neurophysiological markers identified through neuroimaging. The interest of this combination of methodologies approach is that it simultaneously permits the characterization of cognitive risk factors for CNS disorders and their anatomo-functional correlates (such as for age-related dementia, or stroke) as well as controls for moderating factors associated with an individual’s lifestyle (e.g. nutrition, sports or intellectual activities that influence the speed of cognitive decline).